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With its murky sea, narrow, rubbish-strewn beaches and streets packed with high-rise hotels,
PATTAYA
is the epitome of exploitative tourism gone mad. The town swarms with male and female prostitutes, and plane-loads of Western men flock here to enjoy their services in the rash of go-go bars for which "Patpong-on-Sea" is notorious. Yet watersports facilities here are among the best in the country, and it's not a bad place to learn to
dive
, though the reefs off the Andaman Coast are more spectacular. TAT-approved dive shops that run four-day certificate courses (B10,000) and diving expeditions include Dave's Divers Den (tel 038/221860) on Soi 6, Thanon Pattaya Beach; Dolphin Diving Centre (tel 038/427185) on Soi Post Office; and Seafari Sports Center on Soi 5, Thanon Pattaya Beach (tel 038/429253). Be wary of unqualified instructors and dodgy equipment when signing up at any dive centre.
Pattaya comprises three separate bays. At the centre is the four-kilometre
Pattaya beach
, fringed by a sliver of sand and packed with hotels, restaurants, bars and tour operators. The southerly bay,
Jomtien beach
, is cleaner and quieter, but lacks shops and restaurants and is not particularly attractive; it's 14 km long and Thailand's top windsurfing spot.
Naklua Bay
, around the northerly headland from Pattaya beach, is the quietest of the three, but much of the accommodation is inaccessible without private transport, and there's no decent beach.
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